Understanding About Buddhism

There are many factors that make Buddhism stand out from other religions. Buddhism is a valuable system of knowledge that is not based on mere beliefs and creeds. It contains many life changing lessons.

While other religions have taken advantage of the fear of the devotees and accustomed the devotees to mandatory or compulsory practices, Buddhism is a more moderate set of practical teachings that can be accepted if it can be tested and verified for itself, and rejected if it is not.

Also, another important aspect of Buddhism is that it is based on causality and excludes omnipotence and creationism found in other religions.

And another thing that can be seen when studying Buddhism in depth is that Buddhism is not a philosophy, but a scientific aspect that explains the true nature of the world in depth.

Buddhist monks are entrusted with the responsibility and task of protecting Buddhism and continuing its teachings.

In Buddhism, there are no primitive methods of recruiting people to Buddhism or persuading people to believe in Buddhism by force or giving people money and privileges.

Anyone has full freedom to learn and understand Buddhism if they want, and to reject it if they don’t. Buddhism is not a religion that holds anyone by force.

But today many problematic situations have arisen in Buddhism. One of the main issues is that monks are corrupt. They distort and socialize Buddha’s teachings. They act to fulfill their own narrow goals. Through that, the basic essence of Buddhism is suppressed and something else begins to reflect.

Who is Buddha?

Buddha was a royal person. His name in lay life is Prince Siddhartha. He was the heir to a large kingdom after his father, King Suddhodana. But from childhood, Prince Siddhartha had a different kind of thinking. Being very non-violent, he rejected wars and even hunting animals.

Realized that there must be a universal happiness that goes beyond the physical comforts of life. He saw that material comforts, however beautiful they were, were temporary.

But as mentioned in Buddhism, this was not something that happened to Prince Siddhartha once in this state of being. This is the last stage of a journey where Siddhartha Bodhisattva passed through many incarnations and attained enlightenment in this incarnation to free the world from suffering.

What is the Essence of Buddhism?

As mentioned earlier, Siddha Bodhisattva wanted to free the world from suffering. The basic essence of Buddhism is to get used to a system that eliminates suffering and obtains infinite happiness.

Accordingly, it can be simply considered that the basic purpose of Buddhism is to eliminate suffering and obtain infinite happiness.

Everything in Buddhism is built to accustom the worldly beings to live a happy life away from things that cause suffering. But the problem is, all the methods you use to be happy in life are ultimately temporary.

That’s why Buddhism teaches how to achieve eternal bliss. It does not arise, exist, and disappear. Once approached, it is persistent. That is Nirvana. To get rid of suffering and attain ultimate bliss is called “Realizing Nirvana”.

So, today this article brings to you three of the most basic aspects of the long and difficult road to realizing Nirvana.

3 Life Changing Lessons that Lead to Nirvana

Before studying Buddhism, one thing to keep in mind is that Buddhism is not based on faith and beliefs, but something that flows forward based on understanding.

Everything in Buddhism needs to be thoroughly investigated, reasoned and understood. Although it seems simple, there is something more in it. So keep that in mind and try to understand these three lessons better.

01. Four Noble Truths

Even if he identifies as a Buddhist all his life, if he cannot realize these four truths, he cannot become a true Buddhist. This is the foundation of Buddhism. Without this the other parts cannot be built.

Whoever is trying to understand Buddhism, should first of all know and understand these four things well. Paths are opened to many deeper aspects of Buddhism through these four points. Let’s see what these four truths are.

01. The Truth of Suffering

This means that all beings born will naturally suffer. It is a noble truth because it is always reflected. It cannot be changed in any way. It is common to all beings.

Suffering can include many emotions such as sadness, anxiety, and distress. When I say this, you will say that you are very happy. That there is no sadness in your life. But Buddhism analyzes the matter of suffering beyond that.

According to Buddhism, birth means suffering. Aging is suffering, getting sick is suffering, dying is suffering. The company of the unloved is suffering. Separation of loved ones is suffering. Not getting what you want and losing what you desire is also suffering.

Think about it, you can’t change your birth now. That means you are bound to suffer now. Also, you can’t stop getting old and getting sick. Also, you will definitely die one day. You can’t change that either.

No matter how much you try to protect your loved ones with love, they will leave you at some point, and you cannot change that.

Sometimes you may lose your favorite things, you may have to associate with people you don’t like. You cannot control these things. Although it can be controlled, it has to be subject to certain limits. It means that you naturally undergo these sufferings.

Because of these facts, “the truth of suffering” becomes a noble truth.

02. The Truth of the Cause of Suffering

According to the above facts you should understand that the cause of suffering is birth. Then we have to ask beyond that what causes birth. The Buddha preaches that the cause of repeated births is craving, lust, greediness.

This greed is analyzed in three ways. They are Kamatanha, Bhavatanha and Vibhatanha. Kamatanha is the clinging nature to objects of lust. Lust objects are the kind of objects that are able to please any of your senses like your eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin.

For example, your clothes, car, house, phone, etc. are all objects of lust. So clinging to objects of lust like this is called kamatanha. So the change, loss and demise of these lust objects are the things that cause you suffering.

Bhavatanha is the desire to gratify the above mentioned five senses by being born again and again in existence. Some people wish to be born in the divine planes after death. Such thoughts reflect the desire to be reborn and enjoy sensual pleasures.

Many people think that after being born in heaven, they can get rid of all the sufferings and live comfortably.

Buddhism points out that although being born in a heavenly world may be happy compared to the human world, there is no eternal happiness there.

Vibhavatanha is living with the primary thought that there is no rebirth or reincarnation after death, therefore one should live enjoying all the pleasures of this self.

This is a perfect example to show that Buddhism is very moderate. Buddhism describes the nature of all beings. If necessary, at this point the Buddha could have taught this by abandoning those who do not believe in reincarnation.

But if it did, it would not be a completely logical teaching. Therefore, it can be seen that the Buddha has preached Dharma matters in a way that covers every aspect.

You may or may not believe in reincarnation. But in any case, there is no hindrance to your beliefs through Buddhism to continue reading this article.

If you are a believer in reincarnation, however, this applies to you. If you don’t believe in reincarnation, but this applies to you. That is, the moderation and freedom of study shown in Buddhism.

That is why, I mentioned at the beginning of this article that Buddhism is not a religion based on mere beliefs and faiths, but a subject that analyzes the real nature of the world.

However, the root cause of rebirth is this greed. We will discuss the method of eliminating cravings step by step and for now work on understanding these things better.

03. The Truth of the End of Suffering

If the cause of suffering is birth, and the cause of birth is greed (the tendency to pursue happiness), then to eliminate suffering, greed must be eliminated.

That is, in this third truth, you should understand that you should be withdrawn from the various things that please the five senses.

That is, it is a noble truth to realize that in order to eliminate suffering one must eliminate the occurrence of craving.

04. The Truth of the Path that Leads to the End of Suffering

If suffering can be eliminated by eliminating craving, then the way to eliminate suffering is through the path of eliminating craving.

Buddha points out the Noble Eightfold Path, which we are about to talk about next, as the way to eliminate suffering.

When I started talking about the Four Noble Truths, I said, this is the foundation of Buddhism, and this opens the way to many other deeper aspects. Now you may understand why I said that.

02. Noble Eightfold Path

This Noble Eightfold Path is important for realizing Nirvana in order to get rid of the sufferings of life and achieve ultimate happiness.

Buddhism is a very practical subject system. You can understand it by learning about these eight paths. In all these places there are things that you have to understand on your own.

01. Right Understanding (Samma Ditti)

This means the right understanding of the Four Noble Truths. We talked about the Four Noble Truths above. If you can live with the understanding of the four noble truths, it is called right understanding.

02. Right Thought (Samma Sankappa)

Right thoughts are non-covetous, compassionate and non-violent thoughts that do not harm anyone. More specifically, it involves getting rid of greedy, angry and violent thought patterns.

03. Right Speech (Samma Vacha)

Right speech means avoiding immature speech such as lying, speaking harsh words, gossiping and empty words. Every word spoken should be more meaningful, correct and effective.

04. Right Action (Samma Kammanta)

Right action is avoidance of wrong actions. So what are the wrong actions? Wrong actions include killing, stealing, and fornication.

If the life of a human being or even the smallest animal is intentionally killed, it belongs to killing. If someone fraudulently obtains and retains possession of something that does not belong to them, it is theft. Sleeping with someone other than one’s married partner is called fornication.

05. Right Livelihood (Samma Ajiva)

This means what you do to survive. Or, what you do for a living. This leads to engaging in a righteous, hard-earned, worthwhile and productive livelihood.

It means that you should not kill people, kill animals, torture, rob, steal, provide women for sex etc. as a livelihood. This emphasizes doing a good job and living.

06. Right Effort (Samma Vayama)

Right effort is the effort to create unborn merits, maintain born merits, suppress unborn vices, and eliminate inborn vices.

Put more simply, the idea here is to strive to achieve and live a right, productive, meaningful life without wrongdoing.

07. Right Mindfulness (Samma sati)

Right Mindfulness means seeing and understanding the good nature of what is wrong as wrong, what is right as right, what is really there, and what is not as not.

08. Right Concentration (Samma Samadhi)

Right concentration means living with a coherent set of thoughts, mindfully and wisely free from hateful thoughts. It makes sense to live with equanimity.

03. Eight Worldly Conditions

Here are eight situations that you will have to face while living according to the Noble Eightfold Path. Here, the Buddha teaches to face things calmly, fearlessly, without getting excited or helpless.

Everyone in this world is bound to succumb to these eight conditions more or less at different times. These cannot be escaped or transcended.

01 – 02. Pleasure & Pain

Everyone has to experience both pleasure and pain at different times. Do not be excited by it in times of pleasure or saddened by it in times of pain. Always act in moderation.

03 – 04. Gain & Loss

You will be very profitable at times. Also, at other times you will incur huge losses. You will have to experience periods in your life where you will get a lot of money as well as spending every last penny.

When you get a lot of money, don’t waste it. Learn to save, learn to invest. Then, you’ll have the money to meet the most pressing challenges that come your way, even in times of high spending.

05 – 06. Praise & Blame

There are some people who are always criticized by the society. Also, there are some other people who are highly praised in the society.

However, almost everyone is waiting to blame and undermine you as soon as they get the chance. Keep that in mind and live.

Don’t trust anyone too much. Beware of those who praise you unnecessarily. Never get overjoyed when someone compliments you. When someone compliments you, ask yourself if those things are implied to you.

Even when someone blames you, ask yourself if those facts are true for you. Never be too happy or sad. Be moderate.

07 – 08. Fame & Disrepute

When people praise you, when you are highly regarded, when you get social recognition, your fame and fortune will grow.

On the other hand, when the society sees your faults, insults you, denigrates you, your fame and fortune are lost. Your infamy grows.

However, be sure to stay strong at all times. Do not be discouraged.

Bottom Line

Two of the most important doctrines of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, are explained here in a very simple way.

However, what you need to understand is that Buddhism is a subject that needs to be tried, put into practice, tested and accepted or rejected.

There are people in the world who hold many religious ideologies, follow philosophies, and pursue various occult faiths and beliefs.

However, the benefits that can be derived from Buddhism for building social systems with more advanced human characteristics are immense.